angel aggression

[tetrin]

i had a 3" pearl angel in my 40g moderately planted tank. i added 3 more 2" black angels last night. the bigger angel was kind of a bully from the start. but it has stepped it up a notch with the newcomers. the poor guys are hiding among the plants, and whenever one ventures out, the big one goes for it. i knew there could be some problems, but i didn't expect this kind of carnage .
i really like these new guys and don't want to give them up. so, i'm thinking of sending the bully to a QT for a week as a last resort, if the aggression doesn't decrease by tonight. does anyone have any better ideas?

 

[QTOFFER]

You could try putting the bully in QT while you rearrange the decor in the tank. Give the newcomers a few days to get used to their new home, then reintroduce the bully.

 

[tetrin]

thanks QTOFFER.
i did rearrange the tank...(believe me it was a lot of work... ...but i have been wanting to do it anyway) ... put the lights off at night and then introduced the new guys...but still...
anyway, i think i'll do what u suggested...

 

[Meredith]

Good luck to you! I had to finally give up my angel because he was just getting too mean. I wonder if I had a group of them the aggression toward the other fish might not have been so bad. I hope your meany comes around

 

[tetrin]

i definitely need the luck Meredith. he/she has been mean almost all his/her life. previously the two pearl gouramis and the gold gourami used to be picked on mainly. but now he/she has definitely crossed the line.
i tried to make the group as big as possible with angels that were radically different in color. didn't work.

 

[Guest]

well, IMO you should buy the angels all at once and at the same size, becuase if you have a bigger one thats been there a while, of course he's going to be more aggressive, its his territory and hes bigger. Maybe taking him out for a while will help, but i still think his size is going to make him a bully no matter what.

 

[tetrin]

Ashley, i knew of the possible pitfalls before i added the new fish. i was just hoping that somehow a miracle would occur (the 'selfish giant' sort of miracle ) and the bully would come around. so i took all the possible precautions.
i'll try the separation and see if it comes around. i can't even put it in my 10g because of the neon tetras i have there !

 

[Guest]

i bought mine all the same size and now a couple are much bigger, but since i put them in at the same time/size, there have been no aggression issues (yet...lol) Hopefully you will be able to resolve yours and won't have to get rid of any fish!

 

[tetrin]

so i moved the big bossy guy to the 10g and moved the neon tetras to the 40g. as the other angels are small, i'm hoping they'll not think of the dear little neons as snacks.
the bully is a bit unhappy in the 10g. i noticed he/she was sulking, tail fin and top fin clamped a little. i didn't have one ounce of sympathy. this morning he/she was the usual self.
on the other hand, the behevior of the 3 black angels have drastically improved. they ate the frozen bloodworms hungrily yesterday and have been very social and outgoing since.
now with the big angel gone, the tank bully positions have been rightfully assumed by a big gold gourami and a rainbow shark.

one small concern though, one of the small angels seemed to tilt to a side while swimming this morning when the lights were off. as soon as the lights came on, it assumed the erect posture. should i be worried about the swim bladder disease, or was it just temporary flatulence ?